


Family Ties

by Dabberdees



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Child!Graham, Gen, It's Graham & the Doctor but not as you know it, Ryan Yaz and Graham do make an appearance but not in the 1974 bit, multi-chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-06-27 18:37:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19796704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dabberdees/pseuds/Dabberdees
Summary: The Doctor takes a slight detour on her way to Sheffield to pick up the Fam when as she crashes in Essex, 1974, Southend-On-Sea.What should've been a simple fix only gets all the more complicated when she meets a fourteen-year-old child in the process of running away from home.And the only thing she has to go on is that fact that he's said he's called 'Brien', which in her opinion is a clear lie.





	1. Chapter 1

The Doctor has been working on the TARDIS for the last few hours since she crashed on her way to 2019. The constant humming of the ship comforting and familiar, but the Doctor has definitely come to miss the continual background noise of her Fam, from simple bickering to laughter. At least once she gets the TARDIS fixed, she can see them again, and it’s handy that she has a time machine. It’s not like she’s going to be late after all and they really don't need to know she crashed... again.

“It won’t be much longer now old girl, you just need time to recalibrate and then we’ll get you back into the Time Vortex and to Sheff-” There’s a knock at the doors that causes the Doctor to trail off.

She sits up and frowns through the welding mask as the knock sounds again. No one should be knocking on her doors; she checked the date. 1974, Southend… she doesn’t know anyone here and- _Hmm_.

The Doctor stands and removes the helmet, she glances down at her hands and sees the grime caked upon them and wipes them on her trousers before making her way over to the doors. She grabs her coat on the way over and slips it on.

The knock sounds out on the door again, this time a little bit more urgent and then being repeated again. “I’m coming.”

The Doctor reaches the door, opening it and exiting. She instantly spots a teenager looking at her. “Hello,” She smiles down at him.

He scowls up at her, and she catches the light colour of his hair and the blue of his eyes. “Are you a police officer?”

“No, but I have a friend-”

“So why were you in the box?” He cuts her off while trying to look through her and into the TARDIS. “Oh, I didn’t know they had lights in them-” He looks up to the Doctor again. “Can I see inside?”

The Doctor raises an eyebrow at the child and then looks around, frowning when she sees no sign of his parents or any adult anywhere. “Where are your parents?”

The boy stops trying to look through her and steps back, shrugging as his eyes avoids hers. “I dunno they were near me then they weren’t.”

That’s a lie, and she knows it. “You don’t seem concerned about being lost-”

He stares at her face and frowns, and that look, there’s something very familiar about it, but she can’t place it. “I ain’t lost cause I’ve been coming here for years.” He answers back at her. “Why were you in there anyway if you’re not a police officer?” His eyes light up quickly. “Or did someone arrest you?”

“I was repairing her-” She shakes her head and steps out fully, closing the doors behind her. “What were you doing knocking on the doors?”

“I was bored; stupid arcade kicked me out again.”

“And why did they kick you out?” 

The boy shrugs at her again, eyes darting away. “They didn’t give me my tickets, so I wanted my money back, but they wouldn’t give it to me, so I pushed a machine.” He rambles off to her. “Stupid arcade, but it’s the only one around.”

The Doctor sighs and looks back to the TARDIS again. She does need time to sort herself out, and she can’t leave a child by himself in the middle of Southend. “You should find your parents.”

The boy pulls a face and crosses his arms. “What if I don’t want to find them?” He replies with annoyance. “My dad was being a twat again, and I hate him.”

“Oi!” the Doctor exclaims. “There’s no need to swear and _hate_ is a powerful word young man. He’s your dad.”

“Well, he should act like it then.”

She looks at him again, properly this time and there’s something about him that she knows. “How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

“And is that language a fourteen-year-old should be using?” 

“He’s still an idiot though, and see; I didn’t swear then.” He snaps back at her in an irritated tone while his feet kick at the sand on the pavement, but she catches the conflicted look on his face. 

“You didn’t lose them, did you?” She doesn’t get a reply, and she sighs. “I’m the Doctor.”

“Doctor of what?” He mumbles back at her, snappily.

“Just the Doctor,” She answered with a smile, always be kind echoes in her head. “What’s your name?”

The boy looks at her through narrowed eyes. “ _Brien_.” He replies after a moment of thought. 

The Doctor stares unblinking at the kid, so that’s a lie as well and that’s the second one he’s given her. “ _Brien_ then. Are you sure about that?” She questions as he stares at her.

“What sort of question is that? It’s my name ain’t it, and now you’re staring at me, _Doctor_.”

“I’m not sure you should be walking about here by yourself, _Brien_.” She’ll indulge in him for the moment. “Where do you live?”

“You sure you’re not a police officer? Cause my stupid dad said women aren’t police officers which is bollocks if you ask me, cause why can’t you be?”

“You’re swearing again.”

 _Brien_ stares at her. “You ain’t my mum and she ain’t here, so it doesn’t matter what you or her think.”

The Doctor crosses her arms, and she feels a headache forming behind her eyes. “Are you telling me that your parents aren’t in Southend?”

 _Brien_ looks at the floor, and there’s a deep angry and annoyed look on his face. “They’re stupid.”

“They’re your parents.”

“I don’t like them; they’re stupid and horrible.”

The Doctor sighs, there’s something that has really angered the child and if she had to guess, he’s running away from home or in the process of doing it. “You’re not safe here; surely they would be worried about you?”

“Why would they be? They don’t like me; I don’t like them.” 

And she hears a wobble in his voice as he swipes a hand across his eyes. He’s scared, alone, and maybe him knocking on the doors was a cry for help as she looks to the word ‘Police’ on the TARDIS. “Are you hungry?” _Brien_ looks up at her, eyes red and he nods. “We’ll find a chippy, and you can tell me what has upset you, deal? I get you fish and chips, and you tell me why you ran away from home?”

Brien looks to be considering the idea and to urge him along she holds a hand out to him, waving it slightly. “Fish and chips and I might even get you an ice cream after.”

Brien wipes at his face again and quietly accepts her hand, allowing the Doctor to lead him towards one of the many chip shops dotted around. She sighs at how easily she got him to follow her... if she was anyone else- She sighs again and looks down at the child, and she squeezes his hand in a comforting manner.

Maybe she won’t be going back to Sheffield so soon, oh, how she wishes Yaz was here.


	2. Chapter 2

Finding a chippy was easy, digging around through endless pockets in hopes of finding the correct change for this time period. Not so much, but she succeeded after emptying a good portion of her pockets onto the counter much to the displeasure of the cashier and the queue forming behind her and her new friend.

She turns to look at him again, and he seems less angry now as he tucks into his chips, his legs dangling over the small wall overlooking the beach that they’re both sat on.

“So,” The Doctor says over a mouthful of chips. She frowns, the saltiness… not unpleasant but with this newer mouth… she’ll have to get used to it, perhaps try it with custard again, see if this new mouth likes that still. Bringing her mind back to the child sat next to her. “We had a deal; I got you fish and chips, you’re meant to tell me what you’re doing here.”

Brien carries on swinging his legs back and forth, as greasy hands shovel chips away. “I’m still eating them, though.” He mumbles.

“That wasn’t part of the deal I made with you, and you know it.” The Doctor replies, and she gives him a smug look when he turns to glare at her. “Oh, you can glare all you want-” She leans in closer and nudges him. “-but I’ve stared down Dalek Emperors and my own high council, one human child with an attitude problem won’t be an-.”

“I don’t have an attitude problem!” Brien interjects, and then he looks at her confused and through narrowed eyes. “What’s a Dalek? And you defined a human child.”

“Tell me why you’re running away from home, and maybe I’ll tell you.” The Doctor offers again, and she softens her face. “I once ran away from my home, you know. It was a long time ago now.” She says in hopes of getting him to trust her. “A really long time ago.”

Brien looks away and out to sea. “Why did you run away?” He asks in a low voice, feet not moving anymore.

“Different reasons,” She shrugs and joins in him looking out towards the sea. “I wanted to see the universe was one.”

“I did something-” Brien says with a pause. “I… I don’t know, and they didn't like what I did- Just told me I shouldn't do that and that I’m too young to understand and-” Brien clenches his hands and frowns.

“What did you do?”

“It doesn’t matter, I don’t like _them_ ,” Brien exclaims gesturing wildly. “And I don’t want to talk about them.” He jumps off the wall, landing on the sand of Southend with his bag of chips in his hand. “Thanks for the chips but I did your deal, Doctor.”

Brien turns to walk away, and the Doctor frowns after him. She hops from the wall as well and catches up to him pretty quickly. “Where are you going?”

“Away.”

“I’m not going to let you wander off by yourself, Brien.” He scowls at the Doctor again. “When did you leave home?”

“This morning.”

“And what time is it now?”

Brien stops and stares at her. “Don’t you have a watch?” He asks mockingly.

“Time is a construct that you humans are so fond of.”

“What?” He screws his brows together, perplexed. "What does that mean?"

The Doctor smiles at him and then she brings a finger up, placing it within her mouth. She still tastes the saltiness from the chips on it as she removes it and thrusts it into the air. Her face scrunches in thought as Brien gives her a dubious look.

“What are you doing?”

She brings the other hand up, placing it on his mouth and effectively shutting him up as her brows furrow in deep thought. “It’s just gone… one in the afternoon.” She returns her gaze to Brien. “On a Monday, you should be at school, young man.”

Brien pulls his head away from her hand and looks at his wrist, eyes going wide and then snapping to her again. “How the bloody hell did you know what the time was? Did you look at my watch?”

“I thought you didn’t have a watch- I wouldn't have had to do that if you just told me the time.” She throws back at him smugly. “But, you should still be at school, a great place for learning.”

“Maybe I didn’t want to go today- Maybe a trip to the beach seemed better.”

“Did something happen at school?”

“ _No_ ,” Brien says all too quickly, and he turns away from her. “Hey, do you wanna see something cool?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

Brien shrugs at her and smirks. “Am I?”

The Doctor goes to respond but stops when he runs away from her. “Brien!”

“Come on; it makes a weird noise if you poke it!”

That catches the Doctor’s attention, and with a sigh, she runs after the boy, her longer legs and respiratory bypass system making it easy to catch up the child. She approaches him and finds him crouching down in front of something glowing.

“Look, it makes a noise if you poke it,” Brien explains, his hand reaching forward to show her. "I'll show you."

"No," She reaches over and gently takes his hand away from it. “Don’t go poking things.” The Doctor reprimands and then pokes the glowing object herself, and she hears the low groan from it. “Oh, it does make a noise!"

“You told me not to poke it, but you just poked it!”

The Doctor smirks back at him. “Do as I say, not as I do.”

“That makes no sense, Doc.”

“Doc?”

“Yeah, Doc,” Brien says with a nod. “I like you, you got me chips, but you still owe me an ice cream so don't think I forgot about that cause I want strawberry and chocolate.”

“I said I might get you an ice cream; I didn’t say I would.” The Doctor reminds as she looks over to him and that nagging feeling sits within her again. “You remind me off someone.”

“Who? Are they a footballer? Cause I like football. I want to play it professionally when I'm older.”

“He’s a great man, not sure if he played football, should ask him. He supports-" She racks her brain for the team Graham likes. "The Spanners? I don't know, pretty sure it was a tool though."

"The Spanners?" Brien repeats with a roll of his eyes. "He probably supports the Hammers like I do."

"Hammers! That was it, so you support the same team." The Doctor smiles at Brien. "He's strong as well, but not in the usual way, just- He’s one of the strongest people I know, along with two others.” She finishes with fondness. 

“Your friends?” The Doctor nods. “Where are they?”

“In Sheffield, at the moment, waiting for me to pick them up.”

“If they’re in Sheffield then what are you doing in Southend, ain’t they like a million miles away from each other? What did you do, take a wrong turning off the M25?”

“No, I crashed here, and it was a good thing I did because I bumped into you.” She nudges him, and he scowls at her, but she sees a small smile tugging at his lips.

“Do you know what it is, by the way? The glowing thing.” Brien asks, bringing her back to the object in front of them. “I thought it was a jellyfish, so I prodded it with a stick first in case it stung me.”

“Wise move.”

Brien smiles at her. “Yeah, but I don’t think it is now, and it didn’t sting me when I poked it or you when you poked it.”

The Doctor reaches into her coat and pulls out her sonic. “We’ll know what it is in one moment-” She aims her sonic at the glowing object, clicking it on as Brien watches it mesmerised.

“What is that?”

“Sonic Screwdriver.”

“What’s it doing?”

The Doctor brows furrow at the boy, and she goes back to scanning again. “I’m seeing what it is, and if it’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous?”

The Doctor finishes her scan and pulls the sonic back up again to read the results. “It’s not dangerous; it’s emitting low levels of radiation, but nothing that would harm anyone.” She scrunches her face up. “Probably fell through-” Her eyes widen. “Ah!”

“Ah!?”

“This is what interfered with my TARDIS!”

Brien looks completely lost. “What is a TARDIS?”

“It’s the Police Box you knocked on,” She explains as she reaches forward and picks up the glowing object, her hand's constant pressure on it causing it to groan. “I’ll remove it from the beach, and then I’ll be on my way.”

“Oh.”

The Doctor looks back to Brien again, and in her brief moment of figuring out what caused her TARDIS to crash, she’s forgotten all about him. “I can take you back home if you want.”

“I don’t really want to go back home.”

“You have to-” She inclines her head to the side. “Unless you’re unsafe there?”

Brien looks down at the sand and kicks at it. “I’m fine there, I just- I don’t want to see them for a while… because all we do is argue and stuff.”

“I thought you said you don’t like them.”

“I want them to listen to me, that’s all, but they never do,” Brien explains in a muffled tone. “I was angry before, and I do love them, but I- they upset me, that’s all.”

“Will you tell me where you live?”

“Essex,” Brien answers her question.

“Essex is a big place, Brien.”

“Ah, but you didn’t specify, Doc,” Brien says smugly.

“Don’t get smart with me.” She says back at him, her tone lacking any actual threat.

But this is why she wishes Yaz was here, she has been trained to deal with missing children and the added pair of hands wouldn’t go amiss right now. She can’t afford to lose sight of Brien in case he does a disappearing act on her.

She needs Yaz, and Ryan and Graham, she knows this, but it doesn’t sit well within her. Is it kidnap if she does intend to bring him back? He’s safer with her while her and the Fam hunt for his address… but it’s still taking him away from 1974.

Her other option is to leave him by himself, without money, a change of clothes- and that really doesn’t sit well with her. She’s had children aboard before; one more won’t hurt as long as she brings him back to the correct year and time.

“Brien, I’m not going to take you back home, but I do have to go.”

Brien nods at her. “That’s fair, I guess.” He says with a shrug. “Thanks for the chips-”

“Oh, I’m not leaving you here by yourself.” He looks at her, confused. “I’m taking you to meet my friends; maybe you’d speak to them and… perhaps some time away from your parents might make you realise that you miss them.”

“Wait, you’re going to kidnap me?” Brien says, and he takes a cautious step back away from her.

“No, I’m going to show you the inside to that ‘Police Box’ you were so inclined to knock on,” She looks back at him. “You shouldn't have been able to see it.”

“It’s just a Police Box though, why wouldn’t I have been able to see it?”

“It’s not just a Police Box, it’s a TARDIS, and it’s my ship.”


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor rests her free hand on the TARDIS doors, and she feels the touch of the ship ghosting the edge of her mind with warmth. “How you doing old girl, ready to travel?”

“Are you talking to a Police Box?” Brien asks with his arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

“She’s not just a Police Box, Brien, she’s so much more than that.” She replies back while looking over her shoulder. “It’s what inside that counts.”

The Doctor turns back to the doors again and gives them a light push. “Go on, enter, you asked to see inside earlier, and I’m going to show you now, you'll see what I mean.”

Brien walks forward and brushes past her, and she quickly follows him inside, rushing to the console and gently placing the glowing object from on beach by the side of it. “Welcome to the TARDIS, Brien.”

She watches as the boy looks around in wonder, his eyes wide. “It’s bigger-” He darts outside, and she watches with joy, she loves this part. She grins when he runs back inside again. “It’s bigger on the inside, how is that possible?”

The look of joy on his troubled face makes her grin harder. “It travels through time and space as well-”

“You mean you really crashed here?” Brien demands, his head cocking to one side as the Doctor nodded in confirmation. “That’s means you’re from space! Like in Star Trek.”

Brien walks further in and heads towards the console, and the Doctor can see that he wants to touch it but holds off. “I really liked Star Trek, but it ended, my friends all liked Spock and Kirk, but I liked Uhura, she was great.”

He turns to look back at the console, his feet taking him around it. “Are your friends from space as well?”

“They’re human like you.” The Doctor smiles at him. “Their names are Yaz, Ryan, and Graham,” She frowns as Brien pauses when she mentions their names. “You can meet them; they’re good people.”

“In Sheffield?” He looks to the doors. “I’ve never been to Sheffield, how are we going to get there?”

“Like this!” says the Doctor with an almost manic glee to her voice as she hits and pulls switches and levers.

Brien grabs onto the console as the TARDIS lurches to the side and he presses his feet firmly to the on the ground. “What is happening?”

“We’re going to Sheffield,” The Doctor replies on her way around the console. “July 14th, 2019-”

“2019?” Brien yelps, eyes wide. “It’s 1974!”

“Not now, it isn’t.” The Doctor answers back just as the TARDIS comes to a firm stop. “Step outside and see, Brien.”

Brien gives her a dubious look but proceeds forward, hands slowly pushing open the door. “We’ve moved!” He shouts back into the TARDIS before stepping outside.

The Doctor pats the console and sends her thanks to the ancient ship for getting her to Sheffield without trouble for once, just before rushing after Brien and exiting. She spots him staring around in amazement.

“Are we really in 2019?”

“Yup!”The Doctor responds, popping the P sound. “We’re in Park Hill-” She points upwards and towards Yaz’ flat. “My mate Yaz lives up there and-” She gestures behind herself. “-Ryan and Graham live just down there.”

Brien looks to be working something out, eyes narrowed and mouth mumbling something. He looks back up at the Doctor again. “We’re forty-five years into the future!”

“Doctor!” She hears Yaz call out to her, hand waving from the balcony.

“Is that your friend?”

The Doctor nods and smiles down to him. “That’s Yaz; she’s a police officer.”

“My dad was wrong then,” Brien says smugly. “He doesn’t know everything, cause your friend is a woman, and she’s a police officer. Wait until I tell him.”

“So you’ve decided to go back at some point then?”

Brien shrugs at her and turns to look at the approaching footsteps. “Some point, yeah, but not now, and I know that's all you want me to tell you. Where I live and stuff.”

Yaz walks closer and smiles when she sees the Doctor, but it falls when she spots the child standing near her. “Doctor,” She looks to him. “Who is this?”

“This is Brien-”

Brien watches Yaz for a moment. “You’re Yaz, the Doc told me about you, she said you were a police officer.” He says to her. “My dad said police officers aren’t women, but they are cause you are one.”

Yaz furrows her brows at Brien. “Why would your dad tell you- wait, stop-” She looks to the Doctor and then back to Brien, her eyes carefully studying him. “How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

Yaz spins to face the Doctor. “Doctor, why do you have a fourteen-year-old with you? Where are his parents?”

“Back in 1974,” Brien adds unhelpfully, and the Doctor closes her eyes. “Don’t you start asking questions about them as well, cause I had it from her first.”

“Oh, I’m not going to start asking questions about them, at least not yet anyway,” Yaz says as she locks her eyes onto the Doctor’s. “A word, Doctor?”

“Brien, don’t you move from the TARDIS, alright?” The Doctor orders before she follows after Yaz, aiming herself so she can keep an eye on the teenager watching them.

“Please tell me his parents know you have him with you.”

The Doctor scrunches her face. “Technically, his parents don’t know where he is.”

Yaz groans and brings a hand to the bridge of her nose. “Are you saying you’ve kidnapped him?”

“Kidnapped is a strong word, I merely took him from 1974 and brought him here in the hope of finding out where he lives-”

“Doctor, this is 2019! Not 1974. He doesn’t live here-” She looks to the teenager leaning against the TARDIS. “-he’s a missing person, you have to take him back.”

“I can’t Yaz.”

“Why not? And you better have a good reason as to why, Doctor, because this goes against everything I stand for.”

“He ran away from home,” The Doctor looks back over to him, and her gaze falters. “I couldn’t leave him behind without anything.” She turns to look at Yaz again. “I was hoping you could help me get his address from him.”

“How come?” Yaz wonders, still slightly concerned about the Doctor’s ill-thought-out plan but willing to go along with it if it means getting him back to his family. "Why can't you just get it from him?"

“He refused to tell me,” The Doctor leans in. “I could-” She frowns. “I could take the answer from him, but I don’t want to do that. He’s troubled by something and forcing him to tell us won’t solve the issue as to why he ran away, and dropping him back without figuring it out will only make him leave again.”

Yaz sighs and nods her head. “Believe it or not, that makes sense.” She looks over to the child. “Gain his trust,” She breathes out. “You know Graham is going to have a field day with this, Doctor? He’s not going to like it at all.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it-” says the Doctor as she looks back at Brien as well. "You know, he reminds me of him, calls me Doc."

Yaz blinks at the Doctor. “He might remind you of him, Doctor, but people might also suddenly wonder where a teenager appeared from.” Yaz points out. “They will notice him coming and going from Graham’s house because he can’t come to mine. My family will ask too many questions.”

The Doctor thinks over the problem as she stares at Brien. She notes his light skin and hair that could work- The blue eyes are an issue but not really anything to be concerned about. “Brien, come over here.”

Brien looks to her and makes the short trek over. “What?”

“You’re my nephew.”

“Why?”

“Because people will ask where you’ve come from, Brien,” Yaz says, clicking onto the Doctor’s plan. “What’s your last name?” She asks, hoping that he’ll answer the question without thinking.

“Uh,” Brien shuffles from foot to foot. “Why can’t Brien just do for you?”

Yaz raises an eyebrow at the Doctor, noticing the motions he’s making and seeing the lie as clear as day. “Okay, just _Brien_ , then.”

“Yeah,” Brien repeats. “Just _Brien_.”

“I’m gonna text Ryan, tell him to set up their spare room for him.”

Brien watches with interest as Yaz brings her phone out and he makes his way over to her so he can take a closer look at it. “What is that in your hands?”

Yaz looks to the Doctor. “If I tell him, will it upset time or something?”

“Shouldn’t do, could argue that it would’ve already happened because I do-” She points at Brien. “-plan on taking you back to Essex and I thought you liked my Sonic-”

“Sure, sure- Look, that’s that but that-” He gestures to Yaz’ phone. “That’s the best thing I’ve seen so far, it’s got pictures on it and stuff. Your Sonic just buzzed and glowed, Doc, that looks a lot more interesting.” He looks to Yaz and her phone. “What is it?”

“It’s a mobile, look-” She shows him the phone and catches the Doctor’s frown at his interest in the mobile. “I’m texting Ryan, telling him to set up a room for you-” The phone buzzes and Brien’s eyes widen a fraction.

“What did it do?”

“Ryan replied, and he said he'd do it, but when Graham gets back, you are to explain why there’s a child in the house because he ain’t doing it,” Yaz informs the Doctor, and she catches the worried look on Brien’s face. She smiles at him. “Oh, don’t you worry about Graham, he ain’t going to be mad at you, he's soft." She looks to the Doctor and smiles. "He's just going to have a go at the Doctor.”

“Did he say where Graham is?” The Doctor interjects, knowing full well that she's going to get an earful from the older man.

“No, just said he’s out for a couple of days,” Yaz answers as she looks around. “Come on, Ryan’s waiting for us and unless you have clothes in the TARDIS for a fourteen-year-old boy, then we’re going to need to get him something to change into.”

“What’s wrong with what I got on?”

Yaz looks at him, and her police officer takes hold on her face. “Because you’re going to be here a couple of days while we figure out where you’re from because you refuse to tell us.” Brien scowls at her now but doesn't reply.

The Doctor nods and she places a hand on Brien’s shoulder. “Come on you; it’s not far to their house, and you can wipe that look from your face.”


	4. Chapter 4

“So you’re saying that you took Brien from 1974 and brought him here to see if we can get where he lives outta him?” Ryan questions while sat down on his and Graham’s sofa, his hand placed against the bridge of his nose. “I just want to be a hundred percent clear here, cause when my grandad gets back this is gonna go south fast.” He pulls his hand away and looks towards the Doctor. “He will not be happy with you, Doctor; not at the moment anyway, not with what he has going on.”

“See, when you put it like that, Ryan, it sounds bad, but I couldn’t just leave him there in good consci-” She cuts herself off when the final part of that sentence registres and she gives Ryan a curious look. “What do you mean by not at the moment anyway, not with what he has going on?”

Ryan looks away from her, and he chews the inside of his mouth in thought. “He’s gone back to Essex-” He starts to explain, and he wonders if he should. “-His dad isn’t very well. He's in a home, and they phoned and said that this is probably it and that he should come as soon as he can. I dunno, he left pretty quickly, said he'd phone when he got a chance to.”

“I didn’t know his dad was-”

“Alive?” Ryan finishes for her as he looks back to the Doctor. “He doesn’t talk about his past, Doctor, he really doesn’t, and he moved around a lot throughout his life. I don’t even know what he did for a good portion of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not really my place to say-” Ryan says but the look on the Doctor face causes him to pause. She is his and his granddad's friend, but does he have the right to tell her stuff that his grandad hasn’t mentioned? Isn’t that a break in his trust? Ryan ponders briefly. “Him and his dad had a difficult relationship… have a difficult relationship.” Ryan reveals. “And I don’t even know what caused it because he doesn’t ever talk about it. All I know really is that he once mentioned that his dad got rid of all his mum's stuff when she died without giving him a chance to get anything. That really soured their remaining relationship, and I know he loved him but-”

The Doctor brows furrow and she leans back onto the sofa. “Dad’s are difficult, Ryan.”

Ryan snorts with laughter. “Deffo cause you’ve met mine and we ain't the paragons of a good father and son bond.” He smiles sadly and looks towards her. “That was the one thing we could at least bond over, me and gramps, cause both had less than ideal dads.” Ryan leans his head back against the sofa and looks up at the ceiling. “Talking about dads, have you figured out how you’re gonna get Brien to talk about his then? Or at least what he did to make him want to leave? ”

The Doctor shakes her head. “I think he’ll tell us in his own time.”

Ryan looks down at the Doctor, and his expression looks doubtful. “I dunno ‘bout that Doctor, cause he’s seemed pretty stubborn when you brought him here and he did look more interested in the TV.”

“He’s angry at his parents, Ryan, more so his dad than his mum. I think when he simmers down fully and thinks about it, he’ll come round to telling us why they upset him so much and perhaps he’ll realise that he really does miss them.”

“Did he tell you what he did?”

“No, but whatever it was I reckon it happened at school,” The Doctor answers. “But I do think he'll tell us though; he seemed to honour the deal I made with him when I got him food. He answered my question.”

“So you’re saying what we have to buy a fourteen-year-olds trust?” Ryan probes. The Doctor shrugs and Ryan sighs again. “Either way, when do you think Yaz will be back with him? They’ve been gone a while now.”

“How long does shopping usually take?” The Doctor questions, looking bored at the thought of it.

“I dunno, I hate going food shopping, I leave it for my grandad to do.”

The Doctor nods and looks over to the TARDIS, mind swirling with thoughts. “Do you think I acted without thinking?” She asks Ryan suddenly.

“You mean when you took a fourteen-year-old boy from the seventies and brought him to the future?” Ryan says back to her. “Probably not, but-” He shrugs. “-I trust you Doctor and you wouldn't have brought him here without reason, you just gotta make my grandad see that he’s going to be the biggest issue about this entire thing.”

“Easier said than done.” The Doctor moans, which causes Ryan to snicker, she looks back over to him and offers him a weak smile. “He’s never gonna let me live this down, is he?”

“Oh, no he isn’t, you’ll hear about this for months, Doctor,” Ryan says, smugly. “That’s once he gets over what you actually did, mind.”

The Doctor scrunches her nose at Ryan, mind easily imagining that conversation. “Which means I’m going to have to buy his favour as well,” She looks thoughtful. “Brien said he supports the same football team as Graham, that could be a start for getting back in his good-” She trails off when she hears the front door and the sound of excited chatter.

Brien comes into the living room with a smile and a small rectangular box clutched in his hands. “Yaz said I can watch this!” He yells frantically before coming over to Ryan and sitting next to him. “She said it was a DVD but I dunno what that is, but it looks cool, and there's a cat on it.”

Ryan looks to see what he has in his hands and then glances to Yaz as she walks into the living room with a few bags. “Captain Marvel?”

Yaz places down the bags and shrugs. “He asked what DVDs were; I couldn’t figure out how to explain them to him because he doesn’t know what a disc is, or a videotape or anything from his future really, so I thought why not, I was going to watch it anyway.”

“But Captain Marvel?” Ryan asks again, this time smirking at Yaz. “I didn’t realise you liked those films, or do you want to watch it for Brie-”

“Shut up, Ryan,” Yaz cuts him off like she would do with her sister. “It’s all he’s talked about on the way home. I said we could watch it after we have something to eat-”

“I haven’t just talked about that, I also asked about other stuff-” Brien says interrupting Yaz. “Like football, I wanted to know how the Hammers were doing, but Yaz said she didn’t know.”

“No, what I said is I’m not sure I should be telling you things about the future like that.” Yaz corrects him with a raised eyebrow and then she flicks her eyes to the Doctor looking for backup.

The Doctor nods and looks to Brien. “Yaz is correct, can’t have you remembering stuff like that, can we?”

“It would be like Back to the Future,” Ryan says with a smirk. “Could have him remembering who won and stuff and making bets when he’s old enough like Biff.”

Brien’s eyes like up at the suggestion. “Oh yeah, then I could have the money to move away from my stupid dad.”

Yaz frowns at Brien. “You won’t be making bets and-” Her gaze softens. “-he’s your dad.”

“He might be, but he’s still stupid and _wrong_ ,” Brien says before lifting the DVD up again. “I don’t want to talk about him, and you said we could watch this, so can we?”

“She said after dinner, bro.” Ryan reminds, and then he looks to Yaz. “I was gonna order a takeaway.”

“He’s already had fish and chips.” The Doctor, Ryan, and Brien all look at Yaz like she’s grown another head and she sighs, instantly wishing Graham was here for backup in regards to food for once. “He’s fourteen-years-old, you and the Doctor might survive on custard creams and takeaways, but he’s going to eat proper food while he's here. We are meant to be looking after him, you know.”

Brien scrunches his face at Yaz. “Ain’t that proper food?” He looks at Ryan. “What’s wrong with takeaways and stuff?”

Yaz stares into space and blinks her eyes. “It’s a wonder anyone actually survived from the seventies.”

Ryan just smiles at her. “Well, I hope you’re gonna cook it cause I usually leave it to my grandad to do cause he kicks me from the kitchen and I’m not so sure I’d want to eat what the Doctor cooks-” He glances to her. “No offence.” She shrugs at him.

“Technically, I’m a guest in your house, Ryan, and I’ve used my own money to get Brien clothes.”

“I’ll pay you back Yaz,” The Doctor says with a plan in action. One little buzz with a sonic near one of those cash machines and she’ll have everything she’ll-

“Legally?” Yaz says like she can mind read the Doctor’s thoughts. “Or would you be getting it from the cash machine with your sonic, Doctor?”

The Doctor looks at her with wide eyes. “I wasn’t going to do that.” Yaz rolls her eyes, but there’s a smile playing across her face.

“Here I’ll give you a hand with everything, mate,” Ryan says. “You are a guest after all, and gramps wouldn’t be happy if I left you to do everything, he'll already be annoyed at the Doctor. Don't want that directed at me as well.”

Yaz nods her thanks and hands a bag over to Ryan. “Food, film and then he’s going to bed-”

“What?” Brien says with a frown. “Why?”

“Because you’ve had a busy day, sunshine,” The Doctor says. "And it'll be getting late."

Brien huffs, clearly annoyed that he won't be allowed to stay up. "Fine."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'm so sorry, but I had 'Possession' to finish, and then I took on 'you made me a murderer' and, I'm sorry.
> 
> But I had the majority of this done, just needed to touch it up.

With Yaz headed back to her flat, Ryan excusing himself and going upstairs, and after sending their current guest to bed a lot earlier than either than expected because he dozed off during the film, the Doctor finds herself bored.

How do humans manage to cope with living like this? She thinks to herself, legs currently on the back of the sofa while she watches the muted TV upside down. If Graham was here and not currently with his dad, Ryan never really said much about him, hmm, she’ll have to ask him for more or wait until Graham comes back.

Thinking about the man gets the Doctor back onto her previous thought; the oldest of her friends would currently be having a fit at her for sitting how she’s sitting.

But it helps her think.

Or something, maybe she just really is bored. She glances to the time again and frowns; she could’ve sworn it moved faster than that. It’s coming up to 6 am. Should humans be waking up soon? Graham usually is pottering about her TARDIS between six and seven in the morning. It isn’t long until Yaz follows him in wandering around, and then Ryan, usually the last into the console room.

With a sigh, she swings her legs from the back of the sofa and rolls herself into an upright position. She springs to her feet and raises a hand instantly to her head, face wincing. “Oh, ow, ow-” She squeezes her eyes shut. “Got up far too quickly.”

She looks around Graham’s living room again, eyes narrowed while the pain in her head subsides, and she can’t help the intrigued look that appears on her face.

Usually, the man hovers around watching her, well, ever since she took apart and added useful features to the shower, and in her defence, who doesn’t want a cuppa while they shower? Shame he didn’t see it like that and undid her work by buying another. Ungrateful.

But he isn’t here, and she can mooch around without him acting as her shadow. She walks over to the mantelpiece and takes a look at all the photos, smiling sadly when she sees that Grace has become a big part of it. She picks one-off and stares at it, not a wedding photo, but perhaps something of a celebration. Birthday maybe?

She places it back down again and turns to look around the living room again. The few bits that were Grace have been moved somewhere else, her clothes namely, she glances to where Graham’s chair was and scrunches her nose. She wasn’t meant to break it, really, and she can’t help but feel guilty because she did sort of… throw the blame at him. That’s it; she’ll take Graham and the others to the planet IKEA when they get back…

But probably after they sort out the issue that is Brien.

And thinking about it, it would win back Graham’s favour by taking him there, because the man isn’t going to be happy with her in regards to Brien.

She glances to the clock again and frowns. It’s now just gone six in the morning. She considers going back to sitting on the comfy sofa again but pauses when she hears movement coming down the stairs.

The Doctor walks from the living room and into the hallway. Her eyes travel to the stairs, and she spots a sleepy-looking Brien padding down them in the pyjamas that Yaz got him. Ah, that’s another person she owes, and Yaz has forbidden her from getting the money from a cash machine.

“Morning,” The Doctor greets the sleepy teenager. He grunts at her, and she frowns. “You’re meant to say morning back.”

Brien stops and looks to her. “Morning.” He replies back with attitude before turning and heading towards the kitchen. “Why are you up?”

“Why are you up?” She diverts the question back to him. “Aren’t humans, especially children, meant to stay in bed until later?”

Brien shrugs his shoulders. “Dunno,” He mumbles, now stretching. “Woke up, couldn’t get back to sleep.”

The Doctor follows after the child. “You could try.”

“Why?” Brien murmurs as he opens the fridge and rifles through it like it’s his kitchen. He glances to her. “I don’t like anything in here.”

“It’s not your fridge, Brien.”

Brien mutters something before pulling out the milk and making his way over to the cupboards and looking at them. “Which one is the cereal in?”

The Doctor walks forward and plucks the milk from Briens hand. “Sit down; I’ll do it for you.”

Brien frowns at the Doctor. “I’m fourteen, not four.”

“You don’t know where the cereal is,” The Doctor counters back at him, smugly. “Whereas, I do,” She leans in. “And it’s the good stuff, the stuff Graham hides, or at least he thinks he hides, but I know his secrets.” Does she though? She didn't know his dad was alive.

The Doctor disregards that thought and turns around and opens up the cupboard that holds Graham’s snacks, she rifles through them, knocking his particular order all over the place and cheers when she pulls out his cereal. She hears Brien pull out a chair and take a seat behind her as she prepares two bowls of cereal. One, nutritionally excellent for a child, she thinks, and one with at least three spoonfuls of sugar in it.

She turns around again and places Brien’s in front of him before taking the seat opposite him.

Brien looks down at the cereal and smiles. “Shreddies, I like shreddies,” He says with a smile. “Graham and me have a lot in common. We like the same team and cereal.”

The Doctor shovels a mouthful of cereal into her mouth. She swallows and looks at Brien. “Spose you do,” She says while watching the child eat. After a moment, she places down her spoon and rests her hands on the kitchen table. “What happened, Brien? What made you run away?”

Brien stills, his hand moving the spoon around his bowl. “If I say you might get angry at me as well, like my dad,” He mutters while his eyes remain locked on the cereal rapidly turning soggy. “And say that I dunno what I’m talking about, that I'm confused and that I shouldn't feel like that.”

The Doctor frowns. “Why did your dad get angry at you?” She doesn’t like the sound of that, and she now worries for the boy's safety. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No!” Brien says. “No, he wouldn’t, he’d never hurt me,”

“Then what did he do?”

Brien glares down at the bowl in front of him. “He said I was wrong and that I shouldn’t feel that way, said I didn't know what I was talking about, said I was confused and that I’d grow out of it,” He says in a ramble of words, emotion pouring out with them. “Then he brought my mum in and told her, and-” He suddenly pushes himself from the table, the sound ringing out through the kitchen and looks at the Doctor, eyes clearly wet with unshed tears. “I don’t want to talk about it-” He snaps. “-I don’t like him and I don't want to talk about him!”

The Doctor stands in an instant, and she makes her way over to the lad as quick as she can, arms wrapping around his body as he cries. “Shh,” She soothes. “I won’t make you tell me if you don’t want to, but I only want to understand Brien, that’s all.”

She feels Brien nod, the sobs lessening as he pulls away from her. “I’m angry at him, but I miss him, and my mum, but I don’t want to see them either. I just-” He leans back against the wall. “I don’t know; it's a mess.”

“Families are tough,” She glances up to where Ryan would be upstairs. “Fathers are tough.” She stares back at Brien again. “Ryan has his own problems with his dad, and from what he told me yesterday, so does Graham.”

Brien snorts with laughter. “Are you saying all dads suck, Doctor?” He looks at her. “Cause that’s not very reassuring.”

She smiles at him before stepping forward and ruffling his hair, he pulls his head from her and frowns, but there’s a small smirk touching the corner of his mouth. “I don’t wanna speak about him anymore, well-” His face turns into one of thought. “Not today, anyway.”

The Doctor nods. “I’ll take that,” She says as she reaches a hand out to him. “Come on, how about we watch the rest of that film that you were so adamant that you could stay up for?”

Brien gives her a sour look before nodding. He wipes a hand across his eyes and accepts hers. “Okay, but can we start it from the beginning?” Brien asks. “Cause I wasn’t meant to fall asleep-” His eyes light up as he talks to the Doctor. “How did they make her glow like that? She doesn’t actually glow, does she? She looked brilliant, and I liked the cat.”

The Doctor laughs and smiles back at him. “I’ll explain it to you as we watch, Brien.” She promises as she leads him back into the front room.


End file.
